“You know, if government were a product, selling it would be illegal.”
P. J. O'Rourke (1947) American journalist
The Liberty Manifesto (1993)
“You know, if government were a product, selling it would be illegal.”
P. J. O'Rourke (1947) American journalist
The Liberty Manifesto (1993)
Mitt Romney (1947) American businessman and politician
CNN Republican presidential debate, Los Angeles, , quoted in
2011
Context: Rick, I don't think I've ever hired an illegal in my life... We had a lawn company to mow our lawn, and they had illegal immigrants, and when that was pointed out to us, we let them go... So we went to the company and we said, "Look, you can't have any illegals working on our property. I'm running for office, for Pete's sake. I can't have illegals."
“Why are there age limits? why is it illegal to marry a 12-year old?”
Piero Scaruffi (1955) Italian writer
Context: Why are there age limits? why is it illegal to marry a 12-year old? Helen of Troy was 12. Juliet and Cleopatra were still teenagers when they became famous. Most heroines of classic novels and poems were underage by today's laws. Thomas Edison married a 16-year-old. Medical studies show that the best age for a woman to have children is between 15 and 25 (lowest chances of miscarriage, of birth defects and, last but not least, of the woman dying while giving birth); while the worst age is after the mid 30s. And the younger you are, the more likely you are to cement a real friendship with your children; the older you are, the more likely that the "generational gap" will hurt your children's psychology. Therefore it is much more natural to have a child at 16 than at 40.
Jesse Ventura (1951) American politician and former professional wrestler
I Ain't Got Time To Bleed (1999)
Context: I don't support abortion. I could never participate in one. But I think it would be a mistake to make them illegal again. What criminalization will do is force women into garages and back alleys, and then you're going to have two lives in jeopardy. My mom, who was a nurse, used to talk about the messes that would come in after back-alley abortions went wrong. The way to stop abortion is to deal, philosophically and spiritually, with the people who get them. And that's not something government can touch.
Timo Soini (1962) Finnish politician
Soini on organized crime behind Russian borders, quoted on Yle.Fi, "Foreign Minister Soini: Organised crime behind Russian border crossings" http://yle.fi/uutiset/foreign_minister_soini_organised_crime_behind_russian_border_crossings/8618228, February 22, 2016 <br class="br">Context: At the time we didn’t make any satisfactory progress, but we at the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office are in constant dialogue with Russia. The President and President Putin are also in regular phone contact. We’re in the kind of situation where things can’t continue or worsen. If we don’t go forward by negotiating then it will be time for harsher measures. There are human traffickers and people smugglers, organised activities. The President even spoke of escorts and queues. Everything suggests that it is illegal organised immigration and it should be stopped.
Ysabella Brave (1979) American singer
"Forgiveness" (7 July 2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwUSubBH6k <br class="br">Context: I am speaking of something that is no longer happening — that is not currently going on. If someone is abusing you, or doing something illegal, or even something you refuse to tolerate, and it's still continuing, that is not an issue of forgiveness, that is an issue of making sure that stops — even if you have to get away from that situation — that's very important.
Max Fisher American journalist
Source: Max Fisher, "So should Crimea be part of Russia or Ukraine?" http://www.vox.com/cards/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know/so-should-crimea-be-part-of-russia-or-ukraine (3 September 2014), Vox <br class="br">Context: The way that Russia seized Crimea by force from Ukraine this March was hostile and extremely illegal... A poll found that 41 percent of Crimeans wanted the region to become part of Russia. That's an awful lot; but it's still not a majority. Crimea's March referendum on leaving Ukraine for Russia ostensibly garnered 97 percent support, but it occurred in a rush, without international monitors, and under Russian military occupation. A draft U. N. investigative report found that critics of secession within Crimea were detained and tortured in the days before the vote; it also found 'many reports of vote-rigging'. Had the referendum been held in a transparent and legal manner, it's not clear which way the vote would have gone.
Nicolás Maduro (1962) 53rd President of Venezuela
President Maduro's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (excerpts), 26 September 2018
Nicolás Maduro (1962) 53rd President of Venezuela
President Maduro's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (excerpts), 26 September 2018
Bernie Sanders (1941) American politician, senator for Vermont
Trump Must Not Be Allowed to Use Gulf of Oman Incidents as 'Pretext for Illegal War With Iran': Bernie Sanders, Common Dreams, Andrea Germanos, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/14/trump-must-not-be-allowed-use-gulf-oman-incidents-pretext-illegal-war-iran-bernie (14 June 2019) <br class="br">2010s, 2019, June 2019
“A detached attitude toward the problems of others is not illegal.”
Source: Demon Princes (1964-1981), The Killing Machine (1964), Chapter 3 (p. 180)
Tulsi Gabbard (1981) U.S. Representative from Hawaii's 2nd congressional district
Twitter post https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard, (18 Jun 2019) <br class="br">Twitter account, June 2019
Fidel Castro (1926–2016) former First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Cuba
Speech (2 December 1971) http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1971/esp/f021271e.html
“An illegal monument to the British talent for binge drinking and vandalising public property.”
Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter
Cut It Out (2004)
Steve Perry book The Man Who Never Missed
Source: The Man Who Never Missed (1985), Chapter 16 (p. 143)
Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008) American science fiction and fantasy author
He sighed slightly. “I always did fancy happy endings.”
Source: Wagers of Sin (1996), Chapter 21 (p. 430)
Roy Moore (1947) American former judge
Jim Ziegler, Alabama state auditor, in [2017-11-09, Philip Wegmann, Alabama state auditor defends Roy Moore against sexual allegations, invokes Mary and Joseph, The Washington Examiner, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/alabama-state-auditor-defends-roy-moore-against-sexual-allegations-invokes-mary-and-joseph/article/2640217]
“All illegal narcotics are medicinal. Boredom is a disease worse than cancer.”
Doug Stanhope (1967) American stand-up comedian, actor, and author
Drugs cure it, with little or no side effects if used as directed. Life's temporary for a reason, it gets boring after awhile. You should be inventing new drugs is what you should be doing! Newer, crazier drugs... and more holes, that's what you ladies need!
Deadbeat Hero (2004)
James P. Gray (1945) American judge
Source: Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs, 2011, pp. 124-125
James P. Gray (1945) American judge
“Transcript of Judge James P. Gray's Visit to the Drug Policy Forum,” The New York Times, (June 14, 2001)
James P. Gray (1945) American judge
“Transcript of Judge James P. Gray's Visit to the Drug Policy Forum,” The New York Times, (June 14, 2001) https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/14/national/transcript-of-judge-james-p-grays-visit-to-the-drug-policy-forum.html
“If it's illegal to be a Deejay, throw my ass in jail ...”
Dj Parisa (1972) Youtuber & DJ
“The most fun things in life are either immoral, illegal or they make you fat.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
Philip Giraldi (1946) CIA officer
Whose Wars? Israel continues to wag the dog for Middle Eastern wars (17 April 2018)
Deng Feng-Zhou (1949) Chinese poet, Local history writer, Taoist Neidan academics and Environmentalist.
(zh-TW) 持槍作盜進行侵,利筆文章誨殺淫。
技藝人才培不易,植因造業孽緣深。
"Professional morality" (專業道德)
Source: Deng Feng-Zhou, "Deng Feng-Zhou Classical Chinese Poetry Anthology". Volume 6, Tainan, 2018: 84.
Rodrigo Duterte (1945) Filipino politician and the 16th President of the Philippines
Duterte: If I win, better put up more funeral parlors https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/11/26/1526317/duterte-if-i-win-better-put-more-funeral-parlors(November 26, 2015)
Melania Trump (1970) Slovenian model, wife of Donald Trump and First Lady of the United States
via tweet https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1325509832594616328 On November 8, 2020 <br class="br">2020
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster
Source: "Let the Record Speak" 1939, “The Truth about Communism” https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051180423&view=1up&seq=5 (1948), p. 15-16
Mitch McConnell (1942) US Senator from Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader
2021, Remarks on Electoral College votes (2021)
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician
Misc Quotes
Original: (fr) Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician
Misc Quotes
Original: (fr) Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician
Misc Quotes
Original: (fr) Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?
Elvis Costello (1954) English singer-songwriter
She's watching the detectives.
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.
They beat him up until the teardrops start,
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart.
Song lyrics
Source: Watching the Detectives (1977)
Bruce Schneier (1963) American computer scientist
Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World - Bruce Schneier
Cryptography
Matt Gaetz (1982) American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives
"Matt Gaetz’s Claim That Migrants Are Killing Monarch Butterflies Is Utter Bullsh*t" https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetzs-claim-that-migrants-are-killing-monarch-butterflies-is-utter-bullsht, The Daily Beast, 26 July 2022